Stand-in Saints skipper Chris Makin has challenged his teammates to stand up and be counted after their opening day horror show.

Makin, thrust into the centre of a defence that conceded four soft goals at St Mary's, believes that if players go hiding now the club could be in trouble.

But he is backing the character in the squad to shine through and for the team to bounce back tonight at Peterborough in the Carling Cup and against Norwich at Carrow Road on Saturday.

He said: "The plus is there's another game tonight and Saturday, and if we win those two this will be forgotten about.

"We've got to keep positive because if people go hiding now we're in trouble.

"If we stand up we'll be OK. It's make or break and we've got to be strong.

"The character comes out now and you see who wants to show for the ball with the crowd on your back.

"We want to get the results we feel we deserve".

The new-look defence and keeper Bartosz Bialkowski bore the brunt of the criticism for the defeat to Palace, and Makin was not about to come out with excuses for the display.

"It was a nightmare," he said.

"It couldn't have been any worse but that's football and we've really got to forget about that".

Full story: see today's Daily Echo